Star Wars: Attack of the Clones

I'm a Star Wars Fan. With most streaming services today, even when they note its a 4K/Atmos signal coming in, it's compromised in quality - it's just not the true rich video and audio experience of 4K media. So, I continue to buy media because it has the full rich experience of 4K audio and video. I upgraded my home theater to a 9.1 system - you'll need a 4K TV, Receiver that can decode Dolby Atmos (or DTSHD), a DVD player that has 4K enabled etc. So, I purchased the entire set of Star Wars in 4K - Episodes 1 through 9. We already know that the first released episodes (IV, V, VI) were from several decades ago. I can say that they are vastly improved and worth buying in 4K - the visuals are amazing. The last series released, VII, VIII, IX, are already modern and stunning. But I was most surprised with I, II, III - especially the rich context of II - this is block buster visuals, clean, rich, detailed perspectives, and STUNNING audio via my 9.1 system. Clearly, they took time and worked to enhance the 4K Atmos experience. Each of these releases is still rather costly, through you typically get the Blueray and Digital in addition to the 4K version. But honestly, I just want the 4K experience and it's worth it Note: I did have quality control issues with II and V and had to return them for replacements which were fine - so, be sure to watch during the return period to be sure there are no glitches. Highly Recommended.

Great product!

Good

Perfect for my sci-fi library.

Star Wars Episode 2 AOTC was a very good movie and much improved compared to episode 1. Overall DVD quality is excellent with picture and sound, and deleted scenes,I believe there was 8 and they weren't anything spectacular that needed to be reincorporated into the movie.Now to the actual story and characters,the essence of the prequels lies within three people:Anakin,Padme,and Obi-Wan. Equal to say Luke,Leia,and Han. Here's where the characters are supposed to grow into whom their destined to be,it was fine to see Obi-Wan without that long braid padawan look and sporting a beard with long hair,I felt Ewan matured with his character and did a very affable job,I could see him truly as a young Alec Guinness.An interesting role for the reason that as a Jedi knight he was separated early on from Anakin to discover the assassination mystery by himself while Anakin had to protect senator Amidala. Kamino was an exciting new world, a water world just as consistent with the other planets and moons that had just one climate and one type of terrain.The one thing annoying about Kamino was the Kaminoans themselves,you see when I was just a kid, Return of the Jedi was my favorite because of Jabba's palace I loved all the monsters, now that I'm older The Empire Strikes Back is truly my favorite because all the alien characters are at a minimal.The look of the cloners with their long necks and disproportioned bodies reminded me of that fool Jedi master in episode 1 yareal poof.With more human characters the movies definately take on a much more serious tone.Jango Fett's addition was great,it introduces us to a very serious and dangerous villian.A stirring revelation when we learn that the clones were designed after him and that Boba Fett his son is actually his clone also.That's awesome. Now it's easy to understand why Boba Fett becomes the greatest bounty hunter in the galaxy,simply by being a clone means no sexual interaction and only concentration designated for why he was created in the first place, hunting prey.And being the best at it. What's also great about this movie is wittnessing Jango's skills as a pilot,finally we get to see the Slave 1 in action and Jango as well. With Boba's limited action in the trilogy it's refreshing to observe his father in action,so it's safe to say that's what Boba would be like in action including his ship.Now getting back to Obi-Wan I liked the way he unraveled the mystery going to Kamino and then Geonosis, and learning of the plot by Count Dooku,played terrifically by legendary horror star Christopher Lee.His presence as an actor definately improves the prequel with his foreboding essence and magnificent and sonorous voice.He was desperately required to improve on the lack of evil characters from episode 1. The lightsaber duel at the end was great,Dooku for an old man held his own well, because he was a Sith lord, despite one reviewer's claim that the duel was boring between Dooku and Yoda, I would ask them if they fell asleep when the fight commenced, it was nothing short of spectactular,what with Yoda and his crazy spin moves.And to let this reviewer know that the movie show's how Dooku gets away,his ship with the parasail glides all the way to Coruscant where he hands his master the schematics of the Death Star plans while telling him about the clone wars beginning.And we learn that Poggle the lesser and his geonosian warriors hide in the catacombs of there world. On Geonosis, the Jedi choreography should have been better and Padme blasting away at battalions of battle droids without being blasted herself,considering she's no Jedi makes the scene appear a little ridiculous,seeing that many Jedi die.Another thing I didn't like was the alliance formed by the separatist coalition it should have been clearer for the audience just who they are and what commerce they represent. It was a brief scene that would have been cool had Lucas introduced us to all these aliens other than Nute Gunray.example what's the corporate alliance, what does the Techno Union do?I felt that the tusken raider scene should have been longer with the emperor's music in the background while seeing a dark silhouette chopping them down in pieces.But so be it.Padme and Anakin, you knew it was coming,I felt the romance was strained and forced(no pun intended)sometimes less is more.They should have both felt strongly for eachother without having to speak. Learn from looking passionately without listening.When you hear someone say I Love You because your the most serene object I've ever set my eyes upon,the only thing you'll pick up is a slap in the chops. Geore should have left it alone,let it be a love of feeling,emotion and passion and dreams of what happiness may spring, and not cheesy dialogue."are Jedi allowed to love?" yes you may say that we're encouraged to love"I mean what's that?Christian Haydensen's acting was worse than Lloyd's. First off he looked like a wimp and secondly his voice had no passion withdrawing from deep within. Portman was better her second time around but luckily we enjoy the movie for many other interesting things.One note I need to mention because many neglected to say it, Padme was the Naboo Queen not by birth but by election then she becomes a senator.Who in their right mind would elect a teenager to be ruler of an entire planet not just a country but a planet mind you? That's simply idiotic.And now about episodes 1 and 2. In 1 Palpatine manipulates the the greedy organ of commerce the trade federation to blockade his queen's planet in order for him to become chancellor, and when he does he'll shut himself in and become the last and most powerful chancellor of the old republic. Now I had said in my PM review that the trade federation blockade was never truly explained and i'm correct from a certain point of view, from Palpatine/Sidious he gets what he wants but the federations protest is not mentioned in the movie other than hoping to resolve the matter with a blockade of deadly battleships,what's the purpose of blockading a planet which had nothing to with the taxation problem? Yes I know that Sidious told them to do it,but when Rune Haako says in TPM "we should not have made this bargain" it's never explained what Sidious promised the trade federation. Specifically what were they supposed to get out of this blockade.If you say more money that's to thin. To say the taxation would stop,what do the senators care about Naboo for?Anyway enough about that, in AOTC we learn that Dooku is Darth Tyranus and like sidious/Palpatine he's great at playing both sides of the fence. As Dooku he's political leader of the Separatist movement and allowing the republic every reason to create an army, as Tyranus he's responsible as Sidious' Sith lord to hiring Fett and begin operations for a clone army. However, whose money is it that funds the clone operation,as well who pays for all the armor and weapons and ship manufacturing. Was it Sidious or Dooku that killed master sifa Dyas? Some things aren't explained at all but overall it is a very exciting movie that easily should have been episode 1.

I find it kind of weird to be writing a review of Star Wars: Episode II so long after the fact. But for what is and has always been a series of popcorn movies, it took me a surprisingly long time and large number of viewings to really appreciate the subtlety of what Attack of the Clones was doing and how well the prequel trilogy as a whole succeeded.In a nutshell, George Lucas set himself a gargantuan task in doing the three prequels. He had to take the character of Anakin Skywalker, make him a likable and sympathetic character that viewers would enjoy watching for most of three movies, and then turn him into Darth Vader at the end in a way that was both fundamentally believable and effective, and allow the us to feel the tragedy. In short, he had to do something almost completely unlike the heroic arc he did in the original trilogy.And you know what, for me anyway, he succeeded, and once again the middle chapter is the key one. This is where Lucas had to develop Anakin as a real, likable character, and yet give us just enough of his darker side to set up his final fall without yet making us actually dislike him. I think Anakin's romance with Padme was the linchpin and very well-done, even though many fans have criticized it for lousy dialog. You know, I had badly-written dialog when I was that age too. We've had a lot of hip teenagers in popular culture these days, like the character from Buffy: the Vampire Slayer, who talk more like what their 30-something writers would have liked to have talked like when they were that age. Anakin is an awkward, conflicted, serious yet emotional teenager who is deeply in love with Padme and doesn't know how to talk to her. And that's what he sounds like, and for me, it worked, allowing Anakin to develop both sides of his character (Padme's side of the relationship is a little sketchier; her role isn't as well drawn in my opinion, and additionally Natalie Portman, a talented actress, may have been mailing this one in).Needless to say, the action and chase scenes are brilliant, and George Lucas is the master when it comes to framing and setting these things up. Whether it's the skillfully managed tension of the bar scene, the cleverly-shot lightsaber duel between Dooku, Anakin, and/or Obi-Wan, or fisticuffs in the rain, Lucas makes all the action scenes compelling. Crucially, they are an extension of the plot and character development and not just spectacular set pieces as they are in so many movies of this genre.I'm not going to say the movie is perfect, or as compelling as The Empire Strikes Back; it's got its awkward moments, not all of them there for a good reason. The first time I saw Episode II, I wasn't that impressed. But what Lucas set out to do was much more ambitious than it appears on the surface, far more ambitious than most Sci-Fi action flicks, and for me he's succeeded in delivering a trilogy of both exciting action and emotional depth. It took a little while for them to grow on me, and for me to appreciate and understand what he was doing, but now that I'm there I like the second three as much as the first three.

great movie